Eatery on track now to open ... but a year late

-Fusion cooking will be new option for downtown dining when Noma debuts.

-Fusion cooking will be new option for downtown dining when Noma debuts.

July 23, 2006

Nat Buraprateep, owner of the Siam Thai restaurant and the adjoining Say Cheesecake Coffee & Bakery, dreams of owning a restaurant that would bring a new kind of dining to downtown South Bend. Noma restaurant would feature Asian fusion cooking, which uses fresh ingredients to blend spices and flavorings to create interesting dishes. People who just want to unwind could go to Club Noma, the cocktail lounge portion of the business. Buraprateep put together the financing, found a building and hired a contractor. ThermoTech Services Inc. of Dowagiac was to do the work for $413,439. Mark Price, owner of ThermoTech, and Buraprateep signed the contract on May 20, 2005, and work was to be done by Sept. 1, 2005. But it didn't happen. He blamed the owner and architect for making expensive changes in the blueprint after he submitted his bid. The owner blamed him for failing to finish projects and for doing subpar work. Buraprateep finally confided in Robert Urbanski, his landlord for Siam Thai and Say Cheesecake, and this month Urbanski took over management of the Noma project. One of the first things he did was fire Price. Price said the project got off to a bad start right away. He performed demolition work, he said, but couldn't start the construction immediately because he didn't receive the final blueprints until Aug. 15. Price said he was shocked to see major changes in the blueprints. The new plans included a patio, a jellyfish tank, a hostess station and other things that would add to the costs of the project, he said: "It's an $800,000 project now.'' Buraprateep agreed that some changes were made, but he said Price told him he thought he could do the work anyway and work out the costs later. Noma was to open last fall, then in January, then in March. Price said payments were not made to him in a timely way to pay his workers or buy materials. Officials at KeyBank declined to explain or confirm anything, citing confidentiality policies. But Price had a construction advance summary he said he received from the bank. It showed an immediate problem, Price said, because $98,397 was taken from the $413,439 construction cost to buy the building. Although he had employees working in the building beginning in early June, Price continued, and although he was buying goods for the remodeling, he did not receive his first payment from the bank until Sept. 10. It was for $24,500 to cover the demolition expenses. He received an additional $37,617 on Sept. 23, he said. On Oct. 18, he submitted a bill for $148,882, but was paid only $98,994. He said he was slipping further in the hole. The financing confused him, Price admitted, because it included money from the city for facade work and what he described as "smoke and mirrors money.'' Urbanski said he went over the figures with a businessman's eye, and he agreed that Price just didn't understand what was being done. In construction, Urbanski said, payments usually are made when work is completed. Buraprateep said Price never seemed to finish anything. He would work on the kitchen for a while, but before it was done he would move to a different area and do a little work there. Not only that, Buraprateep said, but the quality of the work was not very good. Much of the work that was done is being redone now because it was done wrong, according to Urbanski. "I know nothing about that,'' Price said. "There was never a quality of work issue that was brought to my attention." Urbanski also has a whole list of things he said Price took from the work site that were paid for by Buraprateep. Price disputes that and says he paid for those items and was not reimbursed. Urbanski said the list includes large items like a revolving door that will serve as the main entrance and a specialized heater for the kitchen. It's a dispute that might end up in court. Urbanski said his calculations show that Price actually was overpaid by about $15,000. Urbanski and the bank are working on a deal that would provide financing to Urbanski to buy the building and finish the work. He then would lease it to Buraprateep for the restaurant. If all goes well this time, Buraprateep hopes to open in time for the first University of Notre Dame home football game. Nancy J. Sulok's columns appear on Sundays, Mondays and Thursdays. You can reach her at nsulok@sbtinfo.com, or by writing c/o South Bend Tribune, 225 W. Colfax Ave., South Bend, IN 46626, telephone (574) 235-6234.Nancy J. Sulok Commentary Nancy J. Sulok is a Tribune columnist.